Targeted crash fixing on a client device

ABSTRACT

Client devices having deployed an application may experience a crash of the application. For example, a first client device may experience a first crash having a first crash signature of the application. After experiencing the first crash, a first device identification of the first client device may be assigned to a first bucket designating one or more device identifications of client devices having experienced the first crash. Client devices having device identifications in the first bucket are provided with a first crash fix for the first crash, while a second client device is not provide with the first crash fix, where the application is deployed on the second client device and the second client device was not assigned to the first bucket.

BACKGROUND

Numerous client devices deploying an application may experience crashesof the application. When a client device experiences a crash, a crash“fix” is developed. The crash fix is sent to client devices on which theapplication is deployed. In an example, the crash fix is integrated intoan updated version of the application, and the updated version of theapplication is sent to client devices having the application. Sendingcrash fixes or updated versions of the application to client devices mayconsume a significant amount of network bandwidth and computing power,which may be unnecessarily consumed when less than all client devicesmay need the crash fixes (e.g., some client devices may not experiencethe crash, such as due to different hardware and/or softwareconfigurations that may not induce the crash).

SUMMARY

In accordance with the present disclosure, a group of users that havedeployed an application on client devices may be identified. In anexample, the group of users may comprise a first user having a firstclient device and a second user having a second client device. A firstdevice identification may be received from the first client device. Thefirst device identification may comprise a first crash signatureindicating that the application experienced a first crash on the firstclient device. The first device identification may be assigned to afirst bucket designating one or more device identifications of clientdevices having experienced the first crash.

A first crash fix may be generated for the first crash. The first crashfix may be provided to client devices identified by the one or moredevice identifications of the first bucket. The first crash fix may beprovided to the first client device but not the second client device.

In an example, responsive to receiving a crash confirmation fix for thefirst crash from the first client device, the first client deviceidentification may be removed from the first bucket. In an example,responsive to the first crash fix not resolving the first crash for thefirst client device, the assignment of the first device identificationto the first bucket may be retained and a second crash fix may begenerated to address the first crash. The second crash fix may beprovided to the first client device. In an example, responsive to thefirst crash fix not being received by the first client device, theassignment of the first device identification to the first bucket may beretained and the first crash fix may be provided to the first clientdevice again.

In an example, responsive to an updated version of the application beingavailable, the updated version of the application may be sent to thefirst client device if the updated version of the application includesthe first crash fix. If the updated version does not include the crashfix, then the first crash fix (e.g., but not the updated version) may besent to the first client device. Responsive to the first client devicereceiving at least one of the first crash fix or the updated version,the first device identification may be removed from the first bucket.

In an example, a second device identification may be received from thesecond client device. The second device identification may comprise asecond crash signature indicating that the application experienced thesecond crash on the second client device. In an example, the firstdevice identification from the first client device may indicate that theapplication experienced the second crash on the first client device. Inan example, at least one of the first device identification or thesecond client identification may be assigned to a second bucketdesignating one or more device identifications of client devices havingexperienced the second crash. A second crash fix may be generated forthe second crash. The second crash fix may be provided to client devicesidentified by the one or more device identifications of the secondbucket. In an example, the second crash fix may be provided to the firstclient device and/or the second client device. In an example, the firstdevice identification and the second device identification may beremoved from the second bucket after the second crash fix is provided.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

While the techniques presented herein may be embodied in alternativeforms, the particular embodiments illustrated in the drawings are only afew examples that are supplemental of the description provided herein.These embodiments are not to be interpreted in a limiting manner, suchas limiting the claims appended hereto.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a scenario involving various examples ofnetworks that may connect servers and clients.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a scenario involving an exampleconfiguration of a server that may utilize and/or implement at least aportion of the techniques presented herein.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a scenario involving an exampleconfiguration of a client that may utilize and/or implement at least aportion of the techniques presented herein.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example method of providing atargeted crash fix to client devices.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an example method of providing atargeted crash fix to client devices.

FIG. 6A is a component block diagram illustrating an example system forproviding a targeted crash fix for a crash of an application to clientdevices, where client devices are labeled using device identifications.

FIG. 6B is a component block diagram illustrating an example system forproviding a targeted crash fix for a crash of an application to clientdevices, where client devices are labeled using device identifications.

FIG. 6C is a component block diagram illustrating an example system forproviding a targeted crash fix for a crash of an application to clientdevices, where client devices are labeled using device identifications.

FIG. 7A is a component block diagram illustrating an example system forconfirming a crash fix resolves a crash of an application.

FIG. 7B is a component block diagram illustrating an example system forwhen a crash fix does not resolve a crash of an application.

FIG. 7C is a component block diagram illustrating an example system forwhen a crash fix of an application is not received by a client device.

FIG. 7D is a component block diagram illustrating an example system forwhen a crash fix is integrated into an updated version of anapplication.

FIG. 7E is a component block diagram illustrating an example system forwhen a crash fix is not integrated into an updated version of anapplication.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a scenario featuring an examplenontransitory memory device in accordance with one or more of theprovisions set forth herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Subject matter will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, andwhich show, by way of illustration, specific example embodiments. Thisdescription is not intended as an extensive or detailed discussion ofknown concepts. Details that are known generally to those of ordinaryskill in the relevant art may have been omitted, or may be handled insummary fashion.

The following subject matter may be embodied in a variety of differentforms, such as methods, devices, components, and/or systems.Accordingly, this subject matter is not intended to be construed aslimited to any example embodiments set forth herein. Rather, exampleembodiments are provided merely to be illustrative. Such embodimentsmay, for example, take the form of hardware, software, firmware or anycombination thereof.

1. Computing Scenario

The following provides a discussion of some types of computing scenariosin which the disclosed subject matter may be utilized and/orimplemented.

1.1. Networking

FIG. 1 is an interaction diagram of a scenario 100 illustrating aservice 102 provided by a set of servers 104 to a set of client devices110 via various types of networks. The servers 104 and/or client devices110 may be capable of transmitting, receiving, processing, and/orstoring many types of signals, such as in memory as physical memorystates.

The servers 104 of the service 102 may be internally connected via alocal area network 106 (LAN), such as a wired network where networkadapters on the respective servers 104 are interconnected via cables(e.g., coaxial and/or fiber optic cabling), and may be connected invarious topologies (e.g., buses, token rings, meshes, and/or trees). Theservers 104 may be interconnected directly, or through one or more othernetworking devices, such as routers, switches, and/or repeaters. Theservers 104 may utilize a variety of physical networking protocols(e.g., Ethernet and/or Fibre Channel) and/or logical networkingprotocols (e.g., variants of an Internet Protocol (IP), a TransmissionControl Protocol (TCP), and/or a User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The localarea network 106 may include, e.g., analog telephone lines, such as atwisted wire pair, a coaxial cable, full or fractional digital linesincluding T1, T2, T3, or T4 type lines, Integrated Services DigitalNetworks (ISDNs), Digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs), wireless linksincluding satellite links, or other communication links or channels,such as may be known to those skilled in the art. The local area network106 may be organized according to one or more network architectures,such as server/client, peer-to-peer, and/or mesh architectures, and/or avariety of roles, such as administrative servers, authenticationservers, security monitor servers, data stores for objects such as filesand databases, business logic servers, time synchronization servers,and/or front-end servers providing a user-facing interface for theservice 102.

Likewise, the local area network 106 may comprise one or moresub-networks, such as may employ differing architectures, may becompliant or compatible with differing protocols and/or may interoperatewithin the local area network 106. Additionally, a variety of local areanetworks 106 may be interconnected; e.g., a router may provide a linkbetween otherwise separate and independent local area networks 106.

In the scenario 100 of FIG. 1, the local area network 106 of the service102 is connected to a wide area network 108 (WAN) that allows theservice 102 to exchange data with other services 102 and/or clientdevices 110. The wide area network 108 may encompass variouscombinations of devices with varying levels of distribution andexposure, such as a public wide-area network (e.g., the Internet) and/ora private network (e.g., a virtual private network (VPN) of adistributed enterprise).

In the scenario 100 of FIG. 1, the service 102 may be accessed via thewide area network 108 by a user 112 of one or more client devices 110,such as a portable media player (e.g., an electronic text reader, anaudio device, or a portable gaming, exercise, or navigation device); aportable communication device (e.g., a camera, a phone, a wearable or atext chatting device); a workstation; and/or a laptop form factorcomputer. The respective client devices 110 may communicate with theservice 102 via various connections to the wide area network 108. As afirst such example, one or more client devices 110 may comprise acellular communicator and may communicate with the service 102 byconnecting to the wide area network 108 via a wireless local areanetwork 106 provided by a cellular provider. As a second such example,one or more client devices 110 may communicate with the service 102 byconnecting to the wide area network 108 via a wireless local areanetwork 106 provided by a location such as the user's home or workplace(e.g., a WiFi network or a Bluetooth personal area network). In thismanner, the servers 104 and the client devices 110 may communicate overvarious types of networks. Other types of networks that may be accessedby the servers 104 and/or client devices 110 include mass storage, suchas network attached storage (NAS), a storage area network (SAN), orother forms of computer or machine readable media.

1.2. Server Configuration

FIG. 2 presents a schematic architecture diagram 200 of a server 104that may utilize at least a portion of the techniques provided herein.Such a server 104 may vary widely in configuration or capabilities,alone or in conjunction with other servers, in order to provide aservice such as the service 102.

The server 104 may comprise one or more processors 210 that processinstructions. The one or more processors 210 may optionally include aplurality of cores; one or more coprocessors, such as a mathematicscoprocessor or an integrated graphical processing unit (GPU); and/or oneor more layers of local cache memory. The server 104 may comprise memory202 storing various forms of applications, such as an operating system204; one or more server applications 206, such as a hypertext transportprotocol (HTTP) server, a file transfer protocol (FTP) server, or asimple mail transport protocol (SMTP) server; and/or various forms ofdata, such as a database 208 or a file system. The server 104 maycomprise a variety of peripheral components, such as a wired and/orwireless network adapter 214 connectible to a local area network and/orwide area network; one or more storage components 216, such as a harddisk drive, a solid-state storage device (SSD), a flash memory device,and/or a magnetic and/or optical disk reader.

The server 104 may comprise a mainboard featuring one or morecommunication buses 212 that interconnect the processor 210, the memory202, and various peripherals, using a variety of bus technologies, suchas a variant of a serial or parallel AT Attachment (ATA) bus protocol; aUniform Serial Bus (USB) protocol; and/or Small Computer SystemInterface (SCI) bus protocol. In a multibus scenario, a communicationbus 212 may interconnect the server 104 with at least one other server.Other components that may optionally be included with the server 104(though not shown in the schematic diagram 200 of FIG. 2) include adisplay; a display adapter, such as a graphical processing unit (GPU);input peripherals, such as a keyboard and/or mouse; and a flash memorydevice that may store a basic input/output system (BIOS) routine thatfacilitates booting the server 104 to a state of readiness.

The server 104 may operate in various physical enclosures, such as adesktop or tower, and/or may be integrated with a display as an“all-in-one” device. The server 104 may be mounted horizontally and/orin a cabinet or rack, and/or may simply comprise an interconnected setof components. The server 104 may comprise a dedicated and/or sharedpower supply 218 that supplies and/or regulates power for the othercomponents. The server 104 may provide power to and/or receive powerfrom another server and/or other devices. The server 104 may comprise ashared and/or dedicated climate control unit 220 that regulates climateproperties, such as temperature, humidity, and/or airflow. Many suchservers 104 may be configured and/or adapted to utilize at least aportion of the techniques presented herein.

1.3. Client Device Configuration

FIG. 3 presents a schematic architecture diagram 300 of a client device110 whereupon at least a portion of the techniques presented herein maybe implemented. Such a client device 110 may vary widely inconfiguration or capabilities, in order to provide a variety offunctionality to a user such as the user 112. The client device 110 maybe provided in a variety of form factors, such as a desktop or towerworkstation; an “all-in-one” device integrated with a display 308; alaptop, tablet, convertible tablet, or palmtop device; a wearable devicemountable in a headset, eyeglass, earpiece, and/or wristwatch, and/orintegrated with an article of clothing; and/or a component of a piece offurniture, such as a tabletop, and/or of another device, such as avehicle or residence. The client device 110 may serve the user in avariety of roles, such as a workstation, kiosk, media player, gamingdevice, and/or appliance.

The client device 110 may comprise one or more processors 310 thatprocess instructions. The one or more processors 210 may optionallyinclude a plurality of cores; one or more coprocessors, such as amathematics coprocessor or an integrated graphical processing unit(GPU); and/or one or more layers of local cache memory. The clientdevice 110 may comprise memory 301 storing various forms ofapplications, such as an operating system 303; one or more userapplications 302, such as document applications, media applications,file and/or data access applications, communication applications such asweb browsers and/or email clients, utilities, and/or games; and/ordrivers for various peripherals. The client device 110 may comprise avariety of peripheral components, such as a wired and/or wirelessnetwork adapter 306 connectible to a local area network and/or wide areanetwork; one or more output components, such as a display 308 coupledwith a display adapter (optionally including a graphical processing unit(GPU)), a sound adapter coupled with a speaker, and/or a printer; inputdevices for receiving input from the user, such as a keyboard 310, amouse, a microphone, a camera, and/or a touch-sensitive component of thedisplay 308; and/or environmental sensors, such as a global positioningsystem (GPS) receiver 312 that detects the location, velocity, and/oracceleration of the client device 110, a compass, accelerometer, and/orgyroscope that detects a physical orientation of the client device 110.Other components that may optionally be included with the client device110 (though not shown in the schematic diagram 300 of FIG. 3) includeone or more storage components, such as a hard disk drive, a solid-statestorage device (SSD), a flash memory device, and/or a magnetic and/oroptical disk reader; and/or a flash memory device that may store a basicinput/output system (BIOS) routine that facilitates booting the clientdevice 110 to a state of readiness; and a climate control unit thatregulates climate properties, such as temperature, humidity, andairflow.

The client device 110 may comprise a mainboard featuring one or morecommunication buses 312 that interconnect the processor 310, the memory301, and various peripherals, using a variety of bus technologies, suchas a variant of a serial or parallel AT Attachment (ATA) bus protocol;the Uniform Serial Bus (USB) protocol; and/or the Small Computer SystemInterface (SCI) bus protocol. The client device 110 may comprise adedicated and/or shared power supply 318 that supplies and/or regulatespower for other components, and/or a battery 304 that stores power foruse while the client device 110 is not connected to a power source viathe power supply 318. The client device 110 may provide power to and/orreceive power from other client devices.

In some scenarios, as a user 112 interacts with a software applicationon a client device 110 (e.g., an instant messenger and/or electronicmail application), descriptive content in the form of signals or storedphysical states within memory (e.g., an email address, instant messengeridentifier, phone number, postal address, message content, date, and/ortime) may be identified. Descriptive content may be stored, typicallyalong with contextual content. For example, the source of a phone number(e.g., a communication received from another user via an instantmessenger application) may be stored as contextual content associatedwith the phone number. Contextual content, therefore, may identifycircumstances surrounding receipt of a phone number (e.g., the date ortime that the phone number was received), and may be associated withdescriptive content. Contextual content, may, for example, be used tosubsequently search for associated descriptive content. For example, asearch for phone numbers received from specific individuals, receivedvia an instant messenger application or at a given date or time, may beinitiated. The client device 110 may include one or more servers thatmay locally serve the client device 110 and/or other client devices ofthe user 112 and/or other individuals. For example, a locally installedwebserver may provide web content in response to locally submitted webrequests. Many such client devices 110 may be configured and/or adaptedto utilize at least a portion of the techniques presented herein.

2. Presented Techniques

One or more systems and/or techniques for providing targeted crash fixesto client devices are provided herein. Client devices experiencingcrashes of an application are a subset, generally less than one percent,of client devices utilizing the application. However, crash fixes forsuch crashes are typically sent to client devices utilizing theapplication regardless of whether the client devices experienced a crashof the application, which may unnecessarily consume bandwidth and/orcomputing resources for providing crash fixes to client devices that maynot need such crash fixes. As provided herein, client devicesexperiencing a similar crash of the application (e.g., the applicationcrashed when users were using/accessing a similar portion/feature of theapplication) may be assigned to a bucket. Buckets may be used to sortbetween client devices experiencing different types of crashes. Crashfixes may be developed for the various types of crashes, such as a firstcrash fix for the first crash associated with a first bucket. The crashfixes may be provided to those client devices that experienced the crashthat the crash fix was designed to fix. For example, the first clientdevice may receive the first crash fix, while a second client devicethat is also utilizing the application, but not experiencing the firstcrash, may not receive the first crash fix.

The ability to selectively provide crash fixes to client devices towhich the crash fix pertains, reduces network bandwidth and/or computingresources otherwise used to provide crash fixes to all users that may ormay not experiencing crashes. For example, if 1% of users experience thefirst crash, then the first crash fix is provided to that 1% of users asopposed to all users. In the example above, the network bandwidthrequirement to resolve the first crash may be reduced by about 99%.Further, the computing power of client devices would likewise be reducedby about 99%, as only 1% of client device may be installing the firstcrash fix. Further, by selectively providing crash fixes to clientdevices that have experienced a crash, less client device memory isconsumed for storing crash fix data.

By providing the first crash fix to client devices that have experiencedthe first crash, developers of the application and crash fixes will havea better view/understanding of how the crash fixes function/resolve thecrash, as the crash fixes are going to client devices that areexperiencing the crash (i.e., selectivity of distribution of the crashfixes acts as an inherent filter for information regarding a particularcrash fix).

Constant updates to fix crashes may imply to users of the applicationthat the application crashes often, when in actuality a small percentageof client devices experience a crash. Further, users of client devicesthat did not experience application crashes may become frustrated withconstant updates causing application developers to lose users (e.g.,companies will lose business and/or good will).

An embodiment of providing targeted crash fixes to client devices isillustrated by an example method 400 of FIG. 4. At 402, the methodstarts. At 404, a group of users having deployed an application on aclient device may be identified, such as a first client device. A firstuser having utilized the application on the first client device mayexperience a first crash of the application. In an example, a crashoccurs when the application stops working normally, quits unexpectedly,etc. The first crash may have a first crash signature. In an example, acrash signature indicates the nature of a crash (e.g., a crash signatureof a geographical mapping application may indicate that the geographicalmapping application crashes when users of a particular type of smartphone view a map of Miami, invoke a particular feature such as zooming,etc.).

At 406, a first device identification, of the first client device havingexperienced the first crash of the application, may be received. In anexample, the first client device may be configured to report the firstdevice identification, such as to an application store, based upon thefirst crash. The first device identification comprises a first crashsignature indicating that the application experienced the first crash onthe first client device. In an example, the first device identificationmay comprise a device identifier that may be a unique identifierassigned to the first client device, that may be used, such as by theapplication store, to identify/recognize the first client device. At408, the first device identification may be assigned to a first bucket.In an example, the first bucket designates one or more deviceidentifications of client devices having experienced the first crash. Inan example, client devices having experienced a crash may be sorted bycrash signatures into buckets using device identifications. In anexample, device identifications experiencing similar crashes havingsimilar or the same crash signatures (e.g., crash signatures indicatingthat the geographical mapping application crashes when users of aparticular type of smart phone view the map of Miami) may be assigned toone or more buckets containing device identifications of client deviceshaving experienced crashes with like crash signatures. In an example,buckets may be designated for specific types of crashes.

At 410, a first crash fix may be generated for the first crash. In anexample, the first crash fix may be a special build of the applicationthat is targeted at the first crash signature of the first crash. In anexample, when possible, the first crash fix may be generated to resolveone or more crashes simultaneously (e.g., the first crash fix willresolve the first crash and a second crash having a second crashsignature). When the first crash fix resolves one or more crashes, thefirst crash fix is provided to those client devices to which the firstcrash fix pertains. At 412, the first crash fix may be provided to thefirst client device but not the second client device. For example, thefirst crash fix may be marked as not being applicable to the secondclient device because a second device identification of the secondclient device has not been assigned to the first bucket. In an example,the first crash fix may be provided to the first client deviceautomatically, such as when the first client device is notified of afirst update opportunity. In an example, the first crash fix may beprovided to the first client device in response to the first clientdevice requesting an update from the application store. At 414, themethod ends.

An embodiment of providing targeted crash fixes to client devices isillustrated by an example method 500 of FIG. 5. At 502, the methodstarts. At 504, a group of users having deployed an application on aclient device may be identified, such as a first client device and/or asecond client device. In an example, a first user having utilized theapplication on the first client device may experience a second crash ofthe application. In an example, a second user having utilized theapplication on the second client device may experience the second crashof the application. In an example, the second crash may have a secondcrash signature.

At 506, a first device identification, of the first client device havingexperienced the second crash of the application, may be received. In anexample, the first device identification, of the first client deviceexperiencing the second crash, may comprise the second crash signature,which may be reported to an application store. At 508, a second deviceidentification, of the second client device having experienced thesecond crash of the application may be received. In an example, thesecond device identification of the second client device experiencingthe second crash having the second crash signature may be reported tothe application store.

At 510, the first device identification and the second deviceidentification may be assigned to a second bucket. In an example, thesecond bucket designates one or more device identifications of clientdevices having experienced the second crash. At 512, a second crash fixmay be generated for the second crash. In an example, the second crashfix may be a special build targeted at the second crash signature of thesecond crash. In an example, when possible, the second crash fix will begenerated to resolve one or more crashes simultaneously (e.g., thesecond crash fix will resolve the second crash and a third crash havinga third crash signature). When the second crash fix resolves one or morecrashes, the first crash fix is provided to those client devices towhich the second crash fix pertains. At 514, the second crash fix may beprovided to the first client device and the second client device, butnot other client devices that have not experienced the second crash. Inan example, the second crash fix may be provided to the first clientdevice and the second client device automatically, such as when at leastone of the first client device or the second client device is notifiedof a second update opportunity. In an example, the second crash fix maybe provided to the first client device in response to the first clientdevice requesting an update of the application, such as requesting anupdate from the application store. In an example, the second crash fixmay be provided to the second client device in response to the secondclient device requesting an update of the application, such asrequesting the update from the application store. At 516, the methodends.

FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate a system 600, comprising a crash managementcomponent 614, configured to generate targeted crash fixes. FIG. 6Aillustrates the crash management component 614 generating a targetedfirst crash fix for a first client device 602. The crash managementcomponent 614 may be associated with the first client device 602 and/ora second client device 610 (e.g., the crash management component 614 maybe hosted by a service accessible to at least one of the first clientdevice 602, the second client device 610, an application store thatdistributed an application 604 to the first client device 602 and thesecond client device 610, a browser plugin, etc.). A first user of thefirst client device 602 may use the application 604. The application 604may experience a first crash 606 having a first crash signature. Asecond user of the second client device 610 may use the application 604,and the application 604 may experience no crash 608 (e.g., theapplication 604 performs along normal parameters, does not stop workingunexpectedly, etc.). In an example, after the first client device 602experiences the first crash 606, a first device identification 612 ofthe first client device 602 may be received by the crash managementcomponent 614. The first device identification 612 may comprise thefirst crash signature of the first crash 606. In an example, the crashmanagement component 614 may assign the first device identification 612to a first bucket 615. The first bucket 615 may designate one or moredevice identifications of client devices having experienced the firstcrash 606. In an example, the crash management component 614 maygenerate a first crash fix 616 for the first crash 606. In an example,the crash management component 614 may provide the first crash fix 616to client devices assigned to the first bucket 615, such as the firstclient device 602. In an example, the crash management component 614 mayprovide the first crash fix 616 to the first client device 602 but notthe second client device 610. The ability to selectively provide thefirst crash fix 616 to merely client devices to which the first crashfix 616 pertains, reduces network bandwidth and/or computing resourcesof the crash management component 614 and/or client devices that havenot experienced the first crash and thus have not received the firstcrash fix 616, such as the second client device 610 (e.g., otherwisesuch network bandwidth and/or computing resources would have been usedto provide client devices that did not experience the first crash, suchas the second client device 610, with the first crash fix 616).

FIG. 6B illustrates the crash management component 614 generating atargeted crash fix for multiple client devices. The first user of thefirst client device 602 may use the application 604, and the application604 may experience a second crash 611 having a second crash signature. Asecond user of the second client device 610 may use the application 604,and the application 604 may experience the second crash 611. In anexample, after the first client device 602 experiences the second crash611, the first device identification 612 of the first client device 602may be received by the crash management component 614. The first deviceidentification 612 may comprise the second crash signature of the secondcrash 611. In an example, after the second client device 610 experiencesthe second crash 611, a second device identification 618 of the secondclient device 610 may be received by the crash management component 614.The second device identification 618 may comprise the second crashsignature of the second crash 611. In an example, the crash managementcomponent 614 may assign the first device identification 612 and thesecond device identification 618 to a second bucket 617. In an example,the second bucket 617 may designate one or more device identificationsof client devices having experienced the second crash 611. In anexample, the crash management component 614 may generate a second crashfix 620 for the second crash 611. In an example, the crash managementcomponent 614 may provide the second crash fix 620 to client devicesassigned to the second bucket 617, such as the first client device 602and the second client device 610 (e.g., but not a third client deviceupon which the application 604 is deployed but has not experienced thesecond crash 611).

FIG. 6C illustrates the crash management component 614 generatingmultiple targeted crash fixes for multiple client devices. The firstuser of the first client device 602 may use the application 604, and theapplication 604 may experience the first crash 606 having the firstcrash signature. The second user of the second client device 610 may usethe application 604, and the application 604 may experience the secondcrash 611 having the second crash signature. After the first clientdevice 602 experiences the first crash 606, the first deviceidentification 612 of the first client device 602 may be received by thecrash management component 614. The first device identification 612 maycomprise the first crash signature of the first crash 606. After thesecond client device 610 experiences the second crash 611, the seconddevice identification 618 of the second client device 610 may bereceived by the crash management component 614. The second deviceidentification 618 may comprise the second crash signature of the secondcrash 611. In an example, the crash management component 614 may assignthe first device identification 612 to the first bucket 615 and thesecond device identification 618 to the second bucket 617. In anexample, the first bucket 615 may designate one or more deviceidentifications of client devices having experienced the first crash606. In an example, the second bucket 617 may designate one or moredevice identifications of client devices having experienced the secondcrash 611. In an example, the crash management component 614 maygenerate the first crash fix 616 for the first crash 606 and the secondcrash fix 620 for the second crash 611. In an example, the crashmanagement component 614 may provide the first crash fix 616 to clientdevices assigned to the first bucket 615, such as the first clientdevice 602. In an example, the crash management component 614 mayprovide the second crash fix 620 to client devices assigned to thesecond bucket 617, such as the second client device 610. The ability toselectively provide the first crash fix 616 merely to client devices towhich the first crash fix 616 pertains and to selectively provide thesecond crash fix 620 merely to client devices to which the second crashfix 620 pertains, reduces network bandwidth and/or computing resourcesof the crash management component 614 and/or the client devices thathave not experienced such crashes and thus have not received thecorresponding crash fix. In an example, absent the crash managementcomponent 614, the first crash fix 616 and the second crash fix 620 maybe provided to both the first client device 602 and the second clientdevice 610. In an example, with the crash management component 614, thenetwork bandwidth needed to provide the first crash fix 616 and thesecond crash fix 620 may be about half of the network bandwidth neededabsent the crash management component 614. In an example, with the crashmanagement component 614, the computing power needed to utilize thefirst crash fix 616 and the second crash fix 620 may be about half ofthe computing power needed absent the crash management component 614,(e.g., the first client device 602 uses computing power to utilize thefirst crash fix 616, rather than both the first crash fix 616 and thesecond crash fix 620).

FIGS. 7A-7E illustrate a system 700, comprising a mechanism fordetermining if a crash fix is needed by a client device, received by aclient device, or resolves a first crash for a client device. FIG. 7Aillustrates an example system for confirming that a first crash fix 710resolves a first crash of an application 704. In an example, a firstclient device 702 utilizing the application 704 may experience the firstcrash having a first crash signature. In an example, a first deviceidentification 708 of the first client device 702 having experienced thefirst crash may be received. In an example, the first deviceidentification 708 may be assigned to a first bucket 706. In an example,the first bucket 706 may designate one or more device identifications ofclient devices having experienced the first crash. In an example, thefirst crash fix 710 may be generated to resolve the first crash. In anexample, the first crash fix 710 may be provided to the first clientdevice 702. In an example, if the first crash fix 710 resolves the firstcrash, a crash conformation fix 712 may be sent by the first clientdevice 702 to at least one of an application store, a crash managementcomponent, etc. In an example, such as when the application 704 has adiagnostic algorithm, the first crash fix 710 may be tested by thediagnostic algorithm. In an example, if the diagnostic algorithmdetermines that the first crash fix 712 resolves the first crash, thenthe crash conformation fix 712 may be sent. In an example, if the firstcrash fix 710 resolves the first crash (e.g., another first crash doesnot occur within a designated time period) the crash conformation fix712 may be designated as received by at least one of the applicationstore, the crash management component, etc. Upon receipt or designationof receipt of the crash conformation fix 712, the first deviceidentification 708 may be removed 714 from the first bucket 706.

FIG. 7B illustrates an example system for when the first crash fix 710does not resolve the first crash of the application 704. In an example,the first crash fix 710 may be provided to the first client device 702.In an example, the first crash fix 710 may not resolve the first crashand no crash conformation fix 716 may be sent by the first client device702 or designated as received. In an example, where the first crash fix710 does not resolve the first crash, the first device identification708 may retain assignment in the first bucket 706. In an example, afirst hashing algorithm may identify device identifications of clientdevices that have been removed from the first bucket 706, provided withthe first crash fix 710, and experienced the first crash again. In someexamples, the first hashing algorithm may reassign the first deviceidentification 708 to the first bucket 706. In an example, when thefirst crash fix is determined to not resolve the first crash, a secondcrash fix 726 may be generated 718 and provided to the first clientdevice 702. In an example, if the second crash fix 726 is determined notto solve the first crash, one or more additional crash fixes may begenerated until the first crash is resolved. The ability to determine ifthe first crash fix 710 resolves the first crash by looking at theeffect of the first crash fix 710 on client devices that haveexperienced the first crash may provide feedback to applicationdevelopers to develop better/more targeted crash fixes for crashes.Absent the ability to determine if the first crash fix 710 resolves thefirst crash on client devices that have experienced the first crash,excess information, such as the effect of the first crash fix 710 onclient devices that did not experience the first crash, may begenerated, making accurately determining whether the first crash 710resolves the first crash more difficult (i.e., the example systems ofFIGS. 7A-7B act as an inherent filter for information regarding aparticular crash fix).

FIG. 7C illustrates an example system for when the first crash fix 710is not received by the first client device 702. In an example, the firstcrash fix 710 is provided to the first client device 702. In an example,the first crash fix 710 is not received by the first client device 702(e.g., the first client device 702 was off at the time of providing, didnot have internet access, etc.). In an example, the application 704 mayhave an algorithm to send a crash fix receipt 720 to at least one of theapplication store, the crash management component, etc. in the event thefirst crash fix 710 is received. In an example, when no crash fixreceipt 720 is received, the first device identification 708 may beretained 722 in the first bucket 706. In an example, the first deviceidentification 708 may remain in the first bucket 706 until the crashfix receipt 720 is received.

FIG. 7D illustrates an example system for when the crash fix 710 isintegrated into an updated version of the application 734. In anexample, prior to providing the first crash fix 710, a search for theupdated version of the application 734 comprising the first crash fix710 may be completed. In an example, a second hashing algorithm maycomplete the search for the updated version of the application 734 andmay determine if the first crash fix 710 is integrated into the updatedversion of the application 734. In an example, when the updated versionof the application 734 comprising the first crash fix 710 is available728, the updated version of the application 734 may be sent to the firstclient device 702. In an example, when the updated version of theapplication 734 comprising the first crash fix 710 is sent to the firstclient device 702, the first device identification 708 may be removed714 from the first bucket 706.

FIG. 7E illustrates an example system for when the first crash fix 710is not integrated into the updated version of the application 734. In anexample, the second hashing algorithm may determine that the updatedversion of the application 734 is without 732 the first crash fix 710.In an example, when the updated version of the application 734 does notinclude the first crash fix 710, the first crash fix 710 may be sent tothe first client device 702 (e.g., as opposed to the updated version ofthe application 734). In an example, when the first crash fix 710 issent to the first client device 702, the first device identification 708may be removed 714 from the first bucket 706. The ability to determinewhether the first crash fix 710 or the updated version of theapplication 734 may be required reduces network bandwidth and/orcomputing resources required to resolve a crash, where the networkbandwidth and/or computing resources would otherwise be used to provideclient devices with both the first crash fix 710 and the updated versionof the application 734. In an example, absent the ability to determinewhether the first crash fix 710 or the updated version of theapplication 734 may be required, the first crash fix 710 and the updatedversion of the application 734 may be provided to the first clientdevice 702 (e.g., the first client device 702 uses computing power toutilize both the updated version of the application 734 and the firstcrash fix 710, rather than the updated version of the application 734).

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a scenario 800 involving an examplenontransitory memory device 802. The nontransitory memory device 802 maycomprise instructions that when executed perform at least some of theprovisions herein. The nontransitory memory device 802 may comprise amemory semiconductor (e.g., a semiconductor utilizing static randomaccess memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/orsynchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) technologies), aplatter of a hard disk drive, a flash memory device, or a magnetic oroptical disc (such as a CD, DVD, or floppy disk). The examplenontransitory memory device 802 stores computer-readable data 804 that,when subjected to reading 806 by a reader 810 of a device 808 (e.g., aread head of a hard disk drive, or a read operation invoked on asolid-state storage device), express processor-executable instructions812. In some embodiments, the processor-executable instructions, whenexecuted on a processor 816 of the device 808, are configured to performa method, such as at least some of the example method 400 of FIG. 4and/or method 500 of FIG. 5, for example. In some embodiments, theprocessor-executable instructions, when executed on the processor 816 ofthe device 808, are configured to implement a system, such as at leastsome of the example system 600 of FIGS. 6A-6C, and/or at least some ofthe example system 700 of FIGS. 7A-7E, for example.

3. Usage of Terms

As used in this application, “component,” “module,” “system”,“interface”, and/or the like are generally intended to refer to acomputer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. For example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program,and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application runningon a controller and the controller can be a component. One or morecomponents may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and acomponent may be localized on one computer and/or distributed betweentwo or more computers.

Unless specified otherwise, “first,” “second,” and/or the like are notintended to imply a temporal aspect, a spatial aspect, an ordering, etc.Rather, such terms are merely used as identifiers, names, etc. forfeatures, elements, items, etc. For example, a first object and a secondobject generally correspond to object A and object B or two different ortwo identical objects or the same object.

Moreover, “example” is used herein to mean serving as an example,instance, illustration, etc., and not necessarily as advantageous. Asused herein, “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than anexclusive “or”. In addition, “a” and “an” as used in this applicationare generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specifiedotherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form. Also,at least one of A and B and/or the like generally means A or B or both Aand B. Furthermore, to the extent that “includes”, “having”, “has”,“with”, and/or variants thereof are used in either the detaileddescription or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to the term “comprising”.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing at least some of the claims.

Furthermore, the claimed subject matter may be implemented as a method,apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device, carrier, or media. Of course, manymodifications may be made to this configuration without departing fromthe scope or spirit of the claimed subject matter.

Various operations of embodiments are provided herein. In an embodiment,one or more of the operations described may constitute computer readableinstructions stored on one or more computer readable media, which ifexecuted by a computing device, will cause the computing device toperform the operations described. The order in which some or all of theoperations are described should not be construed as to imply that theseoperations are necessarily order dependent. Alternative ordering will beappreciated by one skilled in the art having the benefit of thisdescription. Further, it will be understood that not all operations arenecessarily present in each embodiment provided herein. Also, it will beunderstood that not all operations are necessary in some embodiments.

Also, although the disclosure has been shown and described with respectto one or more implementations, equivalent alterations and modificationswill occur to others skilled in the art based upon a reading andunderstanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. Thedisclosure includes all such modifications and alterations and islimited only by the scope of the following claims. In particular regardto the various functions performed by the above described components(e.g., elements, resources, etc.), the terms used to describe suchcomponents are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, toany component which performs the specified function of the describedcomponent (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though notstructurally equivalent to the disclosed structure. In addition, while aparticular feature of the disclosure may have been disclosed withrespect to only one of several implementations, such feature may becombined with one or more other features of the other implementations asmay be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of targeted crash fixing, comprising:identifying a group of users that have deployed an application on clientdevices, the group of users comprising a first user having a firstclient device and a second user having a second client device; receivinga first device identification from the first client device, the firstdevice identification comprising a first crash signature indicating thatthe application experienced a first crash on the first client device;assigning the first device identification to a first bucket designatingone or more device identifications of client devices having experiencedthe first crash; responsive to determining that an updated version ofthe application and a first crash fix for the first crash are bothavailable, determining whether the first crash fix is integrated intothe updated version of the application; responsive to determining thatthe first crash fix is not integrated into the updated version of theapplication, providing at a first time the first crash fix but not theupdated version of the application to client devices identified by theone or more device identifications of the first bucket but not to clientdevices, upon which the application is deployed, that are not identifiedby the one or more device identifications of the first bucket, the firstcrash fix provided to the first client device but not the second clientdevice; receiving, via a network connection, a crash confirmation fixfrom the first client device; responsive to determining that the crashconfirmation fix indicates that the first crash fix resolved the firstcrash on the first client device, removing the first deviceidentification, associated with the first client device, from the firstbucket; receiving a third device identification from a third clientdevice, the third device identification comprising a third crashsignature indicating that a third application experienced a third crashon the third client device; assigning the third device identification toa third bucket designating one or more device identifications of clientdevices having experienced the third crash; responsive to determiningthat an updated version of the third application and a third crash fixfor the third crash are both available, determining whether the thirdcrash fix is integrated into the updated version of the thirdapplication; and responsive to determining that the third crash fix isintegrated into the updated version of the third application, providingthe updated version of the third application but not the third crash fixto client devices identified by the one or more device identificationsof the third bucket but not to client devices, upon which the thirdapplication is deployed, that are not identified by the one or moredevice identifications of the third bucket, the third crash fix providedto the third client device.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theapplication is different than the third application.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, comprising: providing the first crash fix to a fourth clientdevice identified by a fourth device identification of the first bucket;and responsive to the first crash fix not resolving the first crash forthe fourth client device: retaining the assignment of the fourth thirddevice identification to the first bucket; generating a second crash fixto address the first crash; and providing the second crash fix to thefourth client device.
 4. The method of claim 1, comprising: providingthe first crash fix to a fourth client device identified by a fourthdevice identification of the first bucket; and responsive to the firstcrash fix not being received by the fourth client device: retaining theassignment of the fourth device identification to the first bucket; andproviding the first crash fix to the fourth client device.
 5. The methodof claim 1, comprising: receiving a third crash confirmation fix fromthe client device; and responsive to determining that the third crashconfirmation fix indicates that the updated version of the thirdapplication resolved the third crash on the client device, removing thedevice identification, associated with the first client device, from thethird bucket.
 6. The method of claim 1, comprising: responsive to asecond device identification of the second client device not beingassigned to the first bucket, marking the first crash fix as not beingapplicable to the second client device.
 7. The method of claim 1,comprising: receiving a fourth device identification from a fourthclient device, the fourth device identification comprising a fourthcrash signature indicating that a fourth application experienced afourth crash on the fourth client device; assigning the fourth deviceidentification to a fourth bucket designating one or more deviceidentifications of client devices having experienced the fourth crash;responsive to determining that an updated version of the fourthapplication and a fourth crash fix for the fourth crash are bothavailable, determining whether the fourth crash fix is integrated intothe updated version of the fourth application; and responsive todetermining that the fourth crash fix is not integrated into the updatedversion of the fourth application, providing the fourth crash fix toclient devices identified by the one or more device identifications ofthe fourth bucket but not to client devices, upon which the fourthapplication is deployed, that are not identified by the one or moredevice identifications of the fourth bucket, the fourth crash fixprovided to the fourth client device.
 8. The method of claim 1,comprising: receiving the first device identification from the firstclient device, the first device identification comprising a second crashsignature indicating that the application experienced a second crash onthe first client device; and assigning the first device identificationto a second bucket designating one or more device identifications ofclient devices having experienced the second crash.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, comprising: receiving a second device identification from thesecond client device, the second device identification comprising thesecond crash signature indicating that the application experienced thesecond crash on the second client device; and assigning the seconddevice identification to the second bucket.
 10. The method of claim 9,comprising: creating a second crash fix to address the second crash;sending the second crash fix to the first client device and to thesecond client device; and removing the first device identification andthe second device identification from the second bucket.
 11. A systemfor targeted crash fixing, comprising: a processor; and memorycomprising processor-executable instructions that when executed by theprocessor cause implementation of a crash management componentconfigured to: receive a first device identification from a first userhaving a first client device, the first device identification comprisinga first crash signature indicating that an application experienced afirst crash on the first client device; assign the first deviceidentification to a first bucket designating one or more deviceidentifications of client devices having experienced the first crash;responsive to determining that an updated version of the application anda first crash fix for the first crash are both available, determinewhether the first crash fix is integrated into the updated version ofthe application; responsive to determining that the first crash fix isnot integrated into the updated version of the application, provide thefirst crash fix to client devices assigned to the first bucket but notto client devices, upon which the application is deployed, that are notassigned to the first bucket, the first crash fix provided to the firstclient device but not a second client device, where the application isdeployed on the second client device and the second client device wasnot assigned to the first bucket; receive, via a network connection, acrash confirmation fix from the first client device; responsive todetermining that the crash confirmation fix indicates that the firstcrash fix resolved the first crash on the first client device, removethe first device identification, associated with the first clientdevice, from the first bucket; receive a device identification from aclient device, the device identification comprising a third crashsignature indicating that a third application experienced a third crashon the client device; assign the device identification to a third bucketdesignating one or more device identifications of client devices havingexperienced the third crash; responsive to determining that an updatedversion of the third application and a third crash fix for the thirdcrash are both available, determine whether the third crash fix isintegrated into the updated version of the third application; andresponsive to determining that the third crash fix is integrated intothe updated version of the third application, provide the updatedversion of the third application to client devices identified by the oneor more device identifications of the third bucket but not to clientdevices, upon which the third application is deployed, that are notidentified by the one or more device identifications of the thirdbucket, the third crash fix provided to the client device.
 12. Thesystem of claim 11, the crash management component configured to:provide the first crash fix to a fourth client device identified by afourth device identification of the first bucket; and responsive to thefirst crash fix not resolving the first crash for the fourth clientdevice: retain the assignment of the fourth device identification to thefirst bucket; generate a second crash fix to address the first crash;and provide the second crash fix to the fourth client device.
 13. Thesystem of claim 11, the crash management component configured to:receive a third crash confirmation fix from the client device; andresponsive to determining that the third crash confirmation fixindicates that the updated version of the third application resolved thethird crash on the client device, remove the device identification,associated with the first client device, from the third bucket.
 14. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the application is different than the thirdapplication.
 15. The system of claim 11, the crash management componentconfigured to: receive the first device identification from the firstclient device, the first device identification comprising a second crashsignature indicating that the application experienced a second crash onthe first client device; and assign the first device identification to asecond bucket designating one or more device identifications of deviceshaving experienced the second crash.
 16. The system of claim 15, thecrash management component configured to: receive a second deviceidentification from the second client device, the second deviceidentification comprising the second crash signature indicating that theapplication experienced the second crash on the second client device;and assign the second device identification to the second bucket. 17.The system of claim 16, the crash management component configured to:create a second crash fix to address the second crash.
 18. The system ofclaim 17, the crash management component configured to: send the secondcrash fix to the first client device and to the second client device;and remove the first device identification and the second deviceidentification from the second bucket.
 19. A non-transitory computerreadable medium comprising computer executable instructions that whenexecuted by a processor perform a method for maintaining buckets fortargeted crash fixing, comprising: maintaining a first bucket for afirst crash of an application, the first crash having a first crashsignature; maintaining a second bucket for a second crash of theapplication, the second crash having a second crash signature;responsive to receiving a first crash notification, corresponding to thefirst crash, from a first client device, assigning a first deviceidentification of the first client device to the first bucket;responsive to receiving a second crash notification, corresponding tothe second crash, from a second client device, assigning a second deviceidentification of the second client device to the second bucket;responsive to determining that an updated version of the application anda first crash fix for client devices assigned to the first bucket areboth available, determining whether the first crash fix is integratedinto the updated version of the application; generating second crash fixfor client devices assigned to the second bucket; responsive todetermining that the first crash fix is integrated into the updatedversion of the application, providing the updated version of theapplication but not the first crash fix to the first client device basedupon the first client device being assigned to the first bucket but notto client devices, upon which the application is deployed, that are notassigned to the first bucket; providing the second crash fix to thesecond client device based upon the second client device being assignedto the second bucket but not to client devices, upon which theapplication is deployed, that are not assigned to the second bucket;receiving, via a network connection, a crash confirmation fix from thefirst client device; responsive to determining that the crashconfirmation fix indicates that the updated version of the applicationresolved the first crash on the first client device, removing the firstdevice identification, associated with the first client device, from thefirst bucket; receiving, via a second network connection, a second crashconfirmation fix from the second client device; responsive todetermining that the second crash confirmation fix indicates that thesecond crash fix resolved the second crash on the second client device,removing the second device identification, associated with the secondclient device, from the second bucket; receiving a third deviceidentification from a third client device, the third deviceidentification comprising a third crash signature indicating that athird application experienced a third crash on the third client device;assigning the third device identification to a third bucket designatingone or more device identifications of client devices having experiencedthe third crash; responsive to determining that an updated version ofthe third application and a third crash fix for the third crash are bothavailable, determining whether the third crash fix is integrated intothe updated version of the third application; and responsive todetermining that the third crash fix is not integrated into the updatedversion of the third application, providing the third crash fix toclient devices identified by the one or more device identifications ofthe third bucket but not to client devices, upon which the thirdapplication is deployed, that are not identified by the one or moredevice identifications of the third bucket, the third crash fix providedto the third client device.
 20. The computer readable medium of claim19, comprising: receiving a fourth device identification from a fourthclient device, the fourth device identification comprising a fourthcrash signature indicating that a fourth application experienced afourth crash on the fourth client device; assigning the fourth deviceidentification to a fourth bucket designating one or more deviceidentifications of client devices having experienced the fourth crash;responsive to determining that an updated version of the fourthapplication and a fourth crash fix for the fourth crash are bothavailable, determining whether the fourth crash fix is integrated intothe updated version of the fourth application; and responsive todetermining that the fourth crash fix is integrated into the updatedversion of the fourth application, providing the updated version of thefourth application to client devices identified by the one or moredevice identifications of the fourth bucket but not to client devices,upon which the fourth application is deployed, that are not identifiedby the one or more device identifications of the fourth bucket, thefourth crash fix provided to the fourth client device.